Herbert L. Needleman, M.D.
Professor
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Dr. Needleman is professor of child
psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine. He developed a new method of measuring a child's body
burden of lead through the analysis of teeth and mounted the first
large-scale study of intelligence and behavior in children who
had no symptoms of lead toxicity other than high lead in their
teeth, a study that served as a model for others around the world.
He followed these children into adulthood, showing that lead exposure
is associated with increased risk for failure to graduate from
high school and for reading disabilities. These studies led to
government programs and regulations to eliminate childhood lead
poisoning. He also examined the effects of lead during pregnancy
on infant development and the relationship between early lead exposure
and delinquency. Dr. Needleman has consulted with the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Housing and Urban Development, and State and local governments.
He has written extensively on the effects of lead, lectured on
the subject at universities around the world, and received many
awards for his work. He was attending physician at the Children's
Hospital of Boston and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard
Medical School. Trained in psychiatry at Temple University Health
Sciences Center, Dr. Needleman received a B.A. from Muhlenberg
College and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
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